18.69
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(He said: Allah willing, thou shalt find me) O Khidr (patient) in relation to that which I see from you (and I shall not in aught gainsay thee) I will not disobey your command.
He said ‘You will find me God willing patient and I will not disobey in other words and you will also find me non-disobedient towards you in any matter’ with which you charge me. He Moses made this statement conditional upon the Will of God because he was not confident of himself in what he had committed himself to. Indeed this is the custom of prophets and saints namely that they do not put their trust in themselves for a single moment.
He said, 'You will find me, God willing, patient, because of the power of my preparedness and my steadfastness in staying the path, and I will not disobey you in any matter', on account of my orientation towards you and my acceptance of your command because of my purity and the sincerity of my [spiritual] desire. All of [these] negotiations are taking place by the tongue of the state.
Allah tells us what Musa said to that learned man, who was Al-Khidr. He was one to whom Allah had given knowledge that He had not given to Musa, just as He had given Musa knowledge that He had not given to Al-Khidr.
قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَى هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ
(Musa said to him: "May I follow you...'') This is a question phrased in gentle terms, with no sense of force or coercion. This is the manner in which the seeker of knowledge should address the scholar.
اتَّبَعَكَ
(I follow you) means, I accompany you and spend time with you.
عَلَى أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْداً
(so that you teach me something of that knowledge which you have been taught) meaning, teach me something from that which Allah has taught you so that I may be guided by it and learn something beneficial and do righteous deeds. At this point,
قَالَ
(He said) meaning, Al-Khidr said to Musa,
إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْراً
(Verily, you will not be able to have patience with me!) meaning, `You will not be able to accompany with me when you see me doing things that go against your law, because I have knowledge from Allah that He has not taught you, and you have knowledge from Allah that He has not taught me. Each of us has responsibilities before Allah that the other does not share, and you will not be able to stay with me,'
(And how can you have patience about a thing which you know not) `For I know that you will denounce me justifiably, but I have knowledge of Allah's wisdom and the hidden interests which I can see but you cannot.'
قَالَ
(He said) meaning, Musa said:
سَتَجِدُنِى إِن شَآءَ اللَّهُ صَابِرًا
(If Allah wills, you will find me patient,) with whatever I see of your affairs,
وَلاَ أَعْصِى لَكَ أمْراً
(and I will not disobey you in aught.) means, `I will not go against you in anything.' At that point, Al-Khidr, upon him be peace, set a condition:
